The UCPN (Maoist) accepted a plan to unite with its splinter group CPN-Maoist on Wednesday, a day after majority of Central Committee (CC) members of the breakaway faction decided to return home.

Ram Bahadur Thapa, who is credited for operationalising the “people’s war” strategy on the military front, is leading the campaign in the CPN-Maoist to reunite with the mother party.

Badal’s aides said that the two sides have agreed to move ahead with the unification process from mid-May, while leaving the door open for other leaders,

including CPN-Maoist Chairman Mohan Baidya, to join the process.

Baidya, a hardline Maoist ideologue, is reluctant to return to the UCPN (Maoist), with which he had parted ways in June 2012 citing “ideological differences”.

Dahal and Badal have reached a 12-point understanding to begin the unification process.

“It is not an agreement; rather we have initiated discussions on the framework of unification,” said CPN-Maoist Secretary Dev Gurung. “It would take some time before we reach a final deal.”

Leaders involved in the negotiations said that the “merged Maoist entity” would follow Marxism, Leninism and Maoism as its guiding principle “to achieve the goal of socialist revolution”.

Both Dahal and Badal have been trying to convince Baidya to return home. Talks are also underway with Matrika Yadav and Mani Thapa, who too had left the party charging Dahal with “deviating from ideology”, to bring them back.

Baidya has maintained that the Dahal’s UCPN (Maoist) and his party are poles apart when it comes to ideology.

During a meeting between Badal, Gurung and Baidya on Tuesday, the latter had asked them to wait until May 15 for his decision. Baidya has called party’s Central Committee meeting for May 14.

“It’s still hard to say whether Baidya will accept the unification plan. There has been an understanding to wait until the next CC meet. After that only we could say something,” said Mani Thapa, who heads the Communist Party Nepal-Revolutionary.

If the unification plan succeeds, Badal is likely to be offered second or third highest position in the party, but it also depends upon the internal dynamics, according to leaders. If Badal manages to convince Baidya to rejoin Dahal, he could be offered the third highest position in the party, the leaders said. “If he joins Dahal without Baidya, he would be Dahal’s deputy,” they added. Pampha Bhusal, who is engaged in the negotiations, said that unification is inevitable now. “A formal decision will be taken after the CC meet,” she said.

In the UCPN (Maoist), not all leaders have taken the whole development positively. Some leaders, including Krishna Bahadur Mahara, are said to be against uniting with the CPN-Maoist, or its faction led by Thapa.